Thursday, April 9, 2009

Serena Williams’ attempt to defend her WTA top ranking against the onrushing overplaying Dinara Safina hit a bump yesterday when she lost to Klara Zakopalova in Marbella. Now Safina takes all and Serena can skip tournaments with glee (and injuries) and we all get to flame Safina and the WTA ranking system which ironically has just been overhauled to stop this sort of thing happening. While this will relieve Safina of her crown soon it won’t stop the hating. Btw props to Zakopalova who does this sort of upset now and then but usually spends her days trying to survive in the top 50. However winners of the sort of upset usually lose to Voracova in the next round.

Safina said all the right things and can’t go without mentioning Marat as usual. Of course Marat was a deserved number one so associating with him helps her look a little more favourable. It’s also good to get in ahead of the flamers:

“It’s a great honor to reach the No. 1 ranking and it is a dream that every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares. It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the No. 1 ranking and I am happy to share this achievement with him. There’s no question that while I am very proud of my results over the past year, I would have liked to reach this achievement in a different manner. I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honor of being World No. 1.”